The Dangers of an SUV

Let me start by saying I ALWAYS make sure I know exactly where all my kids are, and the neighborhood kids too, before I EVER back my truck out of the driveway! I have heard the horror stories, and I do not want one of my kids to become the victim of carelessness. No matter how much of a hurry I am in, I always take the time to make sure I know where the kids are.

That being said, Yesterday I was quite busy after the kids got home from school. I couldn't tell you exactly what I was busy doing. But I was supposed to pick Kate up from her friend's house at 4:30, and I remembered at 5:20 when we were getting ready to leave for baseball. Austin was finishing mowing the front lawn so I was going to hurry and get her from her friend's house, then come back and get ready to leave for baseball. I counted heads. Austin is on the front lawn with the lawn mower. His friend is across the street on his own front lawn. Shannon is in the house finishing her homework. Kyle is dressing for baseball. Kate is at her friend's house. Emily is in the car with me. Everyone is counted for, so I hurriedly back out of the driveway thinking Kate's friend's parents must wonder what kind of mother I am. Leaving my child an hour later than I said I would. I am flustered and my head is spinning. I never saw it, I never heard or felt the car hit it. It wasn't until I saw the look of shock on Austin's face that I realized, I ran over the garbage can full of grass clippings.

It had been sitting in the middle of the driveway. I knew it was there, but I forgot and I couldn't see it in my rear view mirror. The scary part was that I never realized I hit it. This was a big garbage can and it was full and heavy! It was bigger and heavier than a small child would be. It was a BIG reminder of how important it is to always be cautious when driving these SUV's. They are powerful machines!

A Nice, Hot Shower??

I sent the kids off to school this morning and took care of a few things on the computer. Emily started getting fussy, so I laid her in my bed for a nap. I have to admit, I was a little tired so I laid with her for a while. My husband called and said he was coming home from work early today and thought we could go out for lunch. I decided I couldn't go out without a shower, so I finished up what I was doing earlier and then headed to the bathroom.

As I got in the shower, I thought about how nice it is to just relax and enjoy a shower for a change. I don't have to hurry and get ready to go anywhere. I don't have any kids pounding at the door because they need to use the bathroom. I don't have to rush out of the shower to break up a fight between a few of the kids. I can actually ENJOY this shower! At some point I heard my husband come in the front door. I knew he had some things to do before we could go to lunch so I continued to take my time. As I finished my shower, I turned the water up nice and hot and just stood under it. I contemplated staying there until the hot water ran out. Then I noticed it! I felt something on my neck. It felt kind of like a "skin tag". I don't have any skin tags! I grabbed it with my fingers and gave a little tug, but it was attached to my skin! I pulled open the shower curtain and tried to look in the fogged up mirror. All I could see was a small dark spot on my neck. But I don't have any beauty marks there, not on that side! I screamed for my husband to come help me. He yelled that he was in the middle of something, and was I OK? I yelled back to him "Yes, but I think I have tick on my neck!"

My husband comes up to the bathroom, takes one look and so sweetly says "Yep, you sure do!". Followed by, "Where the He-- did you get that?"

"I don't know." I told him, "But would you please get it off?"

"I don't know how to remove ticks." he tells me.

By this point I am getting extremely upset about the fact that there is a BUG stuck to me. I am not upset at my husband who is remaining pretty calm, but moving much too slow as far as I'm concerned. I am just kind of freaking out a bit. I suppose by this point I may have raised my voice, though I was trying to remain calm. I'm pretty sure I screamed something along the lines of "I don't care how you remove it, just get this thing OFF OF ME!"

He did manage to find a tweezers and pulled the tick out, head and all. The nasty thing was still alive and wiggling in the tweezers. GROSS!

I have no idea where it came from and how it got on me. I remember that I put on my winter coat this morning when I took the kids to school. My coat had been thrown in the back of the truck where the kids have been throwing their baseball bags and other stuff that has been who knows where. The only thing I can think of is that it must have been brought into the truck from somewhere else, found it's way onto my coat, and ended up on my neck! But just thinking that it must have been there all morning without my knowing still gives me the shivers.

After my husband saved me from the tick, he decided he needed to get online to make sure he did everything right. We were reassured that he accidentally did everything exactly as he should have, except for one thing. Apparently rather than flush it down the toilet, we needed to keep the tick in a jar. This way if I develop a rash, weakness, confusion, shortness of breath, or paralysis we can show it to the Doctor. I'm not sure how that's going to help, but I'll try to remember that in the future. For now, I guess if I have any symptoms the Dr. will just have to take my word for it.